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Events • January 29, 2014 

# *The Power of Glamour: Persuasion, Longing, and Individual Aspiration*

[![The Power of Glamour](https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/images/power-glamour-130.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Glamour-Longing-Persuasion/dp/1416561110/?tag=catoinstitute-20)Glamour promises to carry us out of quotidian life into a world more beautiful and fulfilling. But what is glamour? A mere daydream distracting us from our true duties and long-term well-being? An illusion created to stimulate commerce in a capitalist economy? How does glamour relate to envy, to art, to self-improvement, to personal charisma? In her new book, Virginia Postrel builds on her path-breaking work in *The Substance of Style* to show that beauty and luxury are far from the only touchstones of glamour: the glamour of military life, of the church, of exploration and discovery, have been driving forces throughout human history, unleashing a dazzling form of persuasion that operates by rousing aspiration and longing in the individual. Please join us for a sparkling discussion of these ideas with three leading public intellectuals. 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

##### Virginia Postrel 

[![Tyler Cowen Square](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-07/tyler-cowen-square.jpg?itok=UqLqXEWR)](/people/tyler-cowen) 

##### [Tyler Cowen](/people/tyler-cowen)

Professor of Economics at George Mason University, Director of the Mercatus Center, and host of *Conversations with Tyler*; Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute

![Sam Tannenaus portrait](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-10/sam-tannenhaus-circle.jpeg?itok=sBb6Vx8u) 

##### Sam Tanenhaus 

Author, *Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America*

[![Walter Olson](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Walter%20Olson.jpg?itok=yhYxyT_7)](/people/walter-olson) 

##### [Walter Olson](/people/walter-olson)

Senior Fellow, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute

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](mailto:wolson@cato.org)